A rough night ended Derek Stepan’s long goal nightmare

DETROIT — And so it ended, Derek Stepan’s long nightmare through which the alternate captain went 23 games and 53 days without scoring a goal.

And when it did at 16:01 of the third period on a power play for the final goal of the Rangers’ 4-1 victory on Sunday over the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena, of course it was one on which he all but missed his left circle shot off a Chris Kreider feed at the tail end of a decidedly average night.

“That’s the way it goes, though,” said Stepan, who had a monster game in Carolina on Thursday in which he recorded 10 shots and hit the post and got nothing for it but more heartache. “Tonight, I didn’t think it was that good. I kind of toed the shot and it…